Retail establishments usually print receipts of the sales transactions upon a supply roll of paper. Very often, a plurality of transactions cause the printing of a lengthy receipt document. The long document presents an unwieldy and unmanageable web that is both unsightly and cumbersome to handle. The lengthy receipt web will often drape awkwardly from the print register and interfere with the entering of additional transactions and the summing of the final receipt total.
It would be desirable to provide a means by which the lengthy web can be contained temporarily, or diverted until the completion of the printing and cutting of the receipt.
It would additionally be an benefit to provide a mechanism wherein a lengthy receipt can be discharged at a right angle to the normal discharge direction, so as not to interfere with the keyboard or face of the register.
The present invention seeks to provide a device that diverts a lengthy print receipt web as it is discharged from the printer. The receipt web is discharged from the printer to a curved raceway. There, the receipt web is forced to fold upon itself and change direction. The web is discharged at the right of the housing, in one embodiment, thus leaving the face of the register keyboard unobstructed. In this manner, the front of a register is not encumbered by a long, suspended, receipt web.
In the aforementioned, copending application, a receipt web is discharged to a storage housing. After the receipt is stored, the housing is rotated, and the receipt is discharged at a right angle with respect to the initial web flow direction.